Original subtitles

A teenager who stabbed to death

a 14-year-old boy he met while playing online video games--

Lewis Dane stabbed Breck Bednar after grooming him

via internet--

Befriended Breck Bednar online--

NEWS REPORTER 1: Then groomed him--

NEWS REPORTER 2: Grooming him online.

FEMALE NEWS REPORTER: --of other adolescents

before luring him to his death.

NARRATOR: On the 17 of February, 2014,

Surrey schoolboy Breck Bednar was lured to his death.

I am thankful for this Thanksgiving meal,

because it is definitely the best that I've ever had.

NARRATOR: 14-year-old Breck was a talented gamer.

He'd been groomed online for nearly a year by someone

he thought was his best friend.

NEWS REPORTER: Lewis Dane stabbed

Breck Bednar at his flat in Grays, after grooming him

via internet--

Breck would have never thought he was being groomed.

He just thought that they hit it off as friends.

Why Breck?

There was a group of six.

Why was Breck the one who fell for it?

You know, I sometimes think, it's like,

Breck, why did you do this?

You know, come on.

For the first time, five of Breck's closest friends

have agreed to speak about what went so wrong

within their gaming group.

Anything you [inaudible] feel comfortable

with just has to stop.

These campaigns in school we see, like over time,

like stranger danger.

But it wasn't really like anything

you see at school before.

We all sort of fell into it, into the trap.

NARRATOR: Told through real life testimony and drama,

this is the story of how an innocent gamer became victim

of cold blooded murder, and what led

a teenager from Essex to kill someone he had never met.

911 DISPATCHER (ON THE PHONE): And who am I speaking to?

My name is Lewis Daynes.

I'm 18 years old.

Hi, Brecky.

We put up our Christmas tree at home, sweetie.

We needed you to do lights.

It was a bit of a disaster.

NARRATOR: This will be Lauren's first Christmas

without her eldest son, Breck.

I miss you so much, sweetheart.

It's hard for Mommy to have fun in the holidays or any time

without you.

Breck was killed on our mum's birthday.

Just one day, out of the blue, he just went on a sleep over

and never came back.

That's Breck.

There's me, Carly, and Chloe.

NARRATOR: The story of what happened to their older brother

would send shock waves through the gaming community.

One morning in February 2014, without telling anybody,

14-year-old Breck got into a taxi

to travel 30 miles to Essex.

He was never seen alive again.

In this photo it captures what he loves in one photo.

You know, he's on the computer and he's smiling.

I remember him being joyous and always laughing and happy.

Me and Breck all had the same interests.

We sat next to each other in form.

As well.

We had the same sense of humor, I guess.

I wouldn't say immaturity, but I'd say pretty close to it.

It's just sort of making jokes out of everything

and laughing all the time.

I'm doing maths, physics, history,

and I haven't decided on what else I'll take.

Breck was a star student.

He was doing triple science, further maths,

he was top set for everything.

Really nice person, Breck.

Yeah, he got on with everyone.

NARRATOR: Every day after school, like thousands

of other teenagers across the country, Breck and his friends

would go home to meet up in their virtual world on the best

gaming server they'd ever come across.

I first met Breck because I invited

some other boys onto the server who were friends with Breck.

And they, in turn, invited Breck on.

I think at first we met through Minecraft.

Liam [inaudible] me they were on this server

and it would be cool if I joined them.

Breck introduced me to server.

Yeah, we were all good friends.

Good fun for everyone.

Get on when we got home, just sort of start talking.

GAMER: Hello.

All right, I'm joining now.

What are you guys playing?

Probably have your mates over.

I guess?

What are you guys up to?

GAMER: I'm already playing [inaudible]..

Oh, isn't that just brilliant.

Can I join?

GAMER: Yeah, sure.

Who's on the channel at the moment?

I first saw TeamSpeak, I thought

it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen.

Breck was so proud to show me this is how it works,

this is what it does.

And having all those friends of him speaking to him real time,

and they were sharing video clips and playing games,

and it was like they were in a clubhouse, a virtual clubhouse.

I just want to hang on the [inaudible] rock.

Come on.

Yeah, I'm going to hit you.

Why?

[inaudible]

I think at the time, we majorly played Battlefield 3.

I know it was a favorite with Breck.

I guess it's boys and guns, something like that.

Breck was probably the best shooter.

It's just a way to--

it was just a way to escape, really.

It was quite exciting.

[inaudible]

And you could sort of like, smuggle drugs,

or like, be a police officer.

If we felt like it, just become a crook

or cop and just abuse the law.

Set you on a flaming torch, whoa!

This sort of exciting criminal world, and then like,

log off and have fish fingers and chips for tea.

NARRATOR: The owner of their favorite server

was someone none of the boys had ever met,

17-year-old computer whiz, Lewis Daynes.

Made it quite clear that he owned the server

and ran things, but there was no like, formal introduction

or anything.

It was just, hi, I'm Lewis.

Lewis was very inviting.

He allowed everyone on. There wasn't a password.

Breck?

So whereabouts are you?

I'm at the Tara, sniping. OK, watch out.

[interposing voices]

[gun shots]

They're on the left, left, look up left.

OK, come on. I'll cover you.

I'll cover you.

LEWIS: So I'm getting shot at.

[inaudible] quicker then.

LEWIS: Cover me.

I am, I am.

Get down.

Get down.

Someone behind you.

He was a few years older than us,

so he was like, the mature one that everyone looked up to.

We were only 13, 14.

[scream]

[laughter]

Too easy, too easy.

He seemed to have quite a lot more

experience in life and computers and stuff than any of us.

We were sort of really in awe of his like, technical ability.

He could just do anything on the computer.

Me and Breck, we really liked coding,

and he would encourage us to sort of code and stuff

like that. - Oh, shit.

Cover me, cover me, cover me, cover me.

Too many people.

LEWIS: Can you get down [inaudible]

No, no, no, I can't.

One, two-- yes!

Right through the eyes.

You could always hear before you could see,

and even though he had his big deep voice,

he'd be giggling away, teenage fun and games.

Breck would spend all of his money,

his birthday money, his Christmas

money, on his computer stuff.

And he had three big screens.

There was always something going on.

The center usually was the gaming screen,

and the right was more interactive

and things would pop up.

On the left was sort of his message screen.

Right there where I saw the avatar

of Daynes who wasn't Daynes.

GAMER: How was your day?

LIAM: It was good.

We got to see "The Mad Max" in the cinema,

and we were the only two in there.

It was empty.

Oh my god.

I think some of his friends were probably there just

to play the games, but Breck was very in tune

with the technology that was going on.

Lewis Daynes was somebody that had skills

or wherewithal to teach Breck something new about it,

and he was learning.

BRECK'S FATHER: Hey, Breck.

Hey, Breck.

[inaudible]

As a child, he was always attracted

to machines and electronics.

Two, one--

BARRY BEDNAR: One of our big bonds, we would build models.

We would build rockets.

And when he was like three years old,

they called him a boy genius because he

was always fixing things.

And as he got older, he kind of transferred

those talents to computing.

He was able to fix and modify and make things happen.

And that was one of his big passions in life

was doing that.

When Breck first got his computer, he built it.

He bought all the PCUs and graphics cards and motherboards

and stuff like that so that he could get the exact computer

that he wanted.

Breck really looked up to Lewis as a mentor,

because of Lewis being more knowledgeable about computers.

He just wanted to soak in every sort of ounce of information

that would help him in his career.

NARRATOR: What Lorin didn't know was her son

was gaming with a teenager who spent

his days prowling the internet, looking for young gamers

to befriend.

LEWIS: Yeah, is anybody here?

NARRATOR: In Breck, Lewis Daynes quickly

detected someone he could impress

with his computer skills.

Yeah, this server is the quickest one I've ever been on.

It's so fast.

How do, um, how do you do it all?

I mean, I've run at optimum level.

And my network, it's impenetrable.

Boom!

So where are you now?

I'm in New York, Breck.

Wait, are you in New York now?

LEWIS: Yeah.

I mean, [inaudible]

What, on this?

No, Breck.

I do have a life.

Been testing security for the US government.

You're a hacker.

I can't say that.

That's all you're getting from me, I'm afraid.

BRECK: Oh, go on.

No, no, no, [inaudible] might be picking

up these communications online.

By day I run the computer technology company.

No way.

I'm also a computer engineer.

Are you serious?

Yeah, totally serious.

That's like my dream job.

NARRATOR: While Lewis claimed to be running a computer company,

he was really unemployed, living alone in a flat in Essex,

spinning a web of lies.

At the time he was part of a million dollar company.

Made over two quid in Bitcoins.

He told me he'd made about two million pounds

off of this virtual currency.

That's what he said, and I believed him.

BRECK: 2 million? - Mhm.

BRECK: Really?

Yeah, and I gave most of it away.

It was was quite, you know, like, wow.

As a computer engineer done work for the government there.

He was very private about his job and what he did.

He sort of kept this character of sort of mystery.

Can't say it but it's top secret government stuff.

You know, need to know basis.

BRECK: Go on.

No, Breck, that's all you're getting from me.

He had his own apartment, a [inaudible] rich,

independent, job in computing, traveling around the world.

Everything that Lewis was saying was sort

of Breck's ideal lifestyle.

If you got any technical issues, just give me a shout.

I'll give you a hand. BRECK: Yeah, definitely.

Nice on.

When I would go into the room, Breck would

sometimes say, my mom's here.

Mum's here, anyway, now.

The other boys would just go quiet,

but Lewis was very confident and would say, oh, hey, mom.

How you doing?

And I'd ask him, what have you been doing?

You know, what have you been--

what do you like about New York?

New York's great.

I mean, I haven't been doing much.

Just working.

I'd say, why aren't you out with a girlfriend?

Or why aren't you out with a friend?

Oh, I'm just staying in tonight.

A lot of times his answers would be vague.

I thought, why is a 17 going on 18-year-old

hanging out with 14-year-old boys

Friday and Saturday nights online?

And I thought, you know, what is sort of wrong with this person,

that he's not actually interacting

with people his own age?

It seemed unusual, and it did put sort of little niggle

of worry in my mind.

NARRATOR: Breck had only been part of Lewis's gaming group

for a few months, but some of the older boys

were becoming suspicious.

I'd talked to Lewis then for about a year and a half, which

is quite a long time to go without actually

meeting this person.

Everyone else was pretty open out their appearance.

We had pretty much everyone on Facebook.

We'd all connect through social media.

Lewis didn't have any social networking,

would share his face.

So we had no idea what he looked like.

I had Breck around for a sleep over, Skyped Lewis.

Lewis's screen was almost pitch black.

It was just-- you didn't really see much of Lewis.

There were no lights on in the rest of the room.

It was pretty much silhouetted.

I thought it was a little bit weird.

I didn't really expect him to sort of skulk away

in the shadows, because, you know,

he sounded like he'd live this glamorous lifestyle,

and you think he'd be a bit more confident.

NARRATOR: Lewis had every reason to hide.

He'd already built up a large network

of young gamers in an attempt to groom one of them.

Breck, with his passion for computer programming,

was becoming a promising target.

BRECK: Shoot him in the face! - I'm trying, Breck.

I'm trying, I'm trying, .

Burn this place to shit.

BRECK: I've been meaning to ask you--

LEWIS: Mhm?

I want to try out a mod, and I was

wondering if you could, like, chalk up a server

so we could try it out.

Oh, yeah.

I've just got this server in Germany.

- Oh, really? - Hm.

I mean, I'm kind of using it for work, testing things.

How much space do you need?

Uh, like 60 gig, but obviously,

it has to be really fast.

LEWIS: Of course it's fast.

It's mine, Breck.

What's the mod?

BRECK: It's just some graphical mod I've been working on.

LEWIS: Oh yeah, forgot you were a bit of a smart ass.

Well, hardly managing my own multimillion pound company yet,

but--

LEWIS: You want to start thinking about it, Breck.

Yeah, right.

I'm 14.

So?

I was hacking my schools internet at 14.

Lewis sort of gave him this confidence.

You're a bright guy.

You're really intelligent.

You're good at computing--

just played into everything Breck wanted to hear.

You've got a very bright future ahead of you.

You have so much potential.

Your knowledge of computer systems is extensive.

Use that, Breck, to your advantage.

Very intelligent young man.

Listen, Breck.

I need to dash and I've got [inaudible] to get to.

Thanks.

LEWIS: I'll speak to you later, yeah?

BRECK: Yeah, cool.

NARRATOR: Since Breck's murder, his mother, Lorin,

has spoken publicly to raise awareness of the dangers

of online grooming.

Tweet here from John.

The buck stops with parents.

What would you say to that point by John?

I thought Breck was safe in his bedroom

where I could hear what he was saying, see what he was doing,

but I didn't realize, you know, until too late

how dangerous it was.

Lewis wanted Breck 24/7 on that computer.

Well, if I asked him, you know, why does

Lewis not have other friends?

Why is he always available for gaming?

And he'd say, oh, it's because it's what he likes to do.

Or his friends have moved away, or--

I didn't feel like Breck would ever

say, yeah, that is weird, mom.

Breck never said that.

LORIN (ON TV): Breck would have never

known he was being groomed, because it's so subtle

and it's not always sexual.

It can sometimes just be a lot of compliments,

a lot of attention.

Oh, I just thought of it as he was like,

having fun with his friends.

It didn't seem that dangerous.

It would only seem dangerous if, like, he didn't know them

and they weren't his friends.

LORIN (ON TV): You know, you start to trust people online,

but then you have to think that maybe they

have some underlying motive.

NARRATOR: After six months, Lewis

was winning Breck's trust.

He now encouraged Breck to speak to him on a private channel

so his friends couldn't hear how he was being manipulated.

LEWIS: I think you're making a stupid mistake, sticking around

with school and university.

Don't limit yourself with social conventions.

There's a bigger picture for you here, Breck.

I don't know.

I always just thought I'd go to uni, I suppose.

LEWIS: Do you actually buy into that crap, Breck.

BRECK: What, education?

Yeah, Pythagoras, geometry--

what's that about?

What's the point in GCSEs?

You know, what, so you end up with a certificate

at the end of the three years?

Pathetic And what about life experience?

Practically-- doing the work.

That's what you need.

I mean, look at me.

I left school at 16, and now I'm running my own company.

Yeah, yeah, like, now you mention

it, like Steve Jobs just left Reed College, didn't he,

to set up Apple?

And then Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard

and I look at Facebook.

Exactly.

BRECK: Yeah.

So you know, Breck, you could follow in their footsteps.

Yeah, you understand about computing and coding,

how it works.

You've got technical aptitude.

You know, it's like your brain is wired the right way.

BRECK: Do you think so?

Yeah.

Use that, Breck, to your advantage,

and you'll up with 2 million bitcoins, like me.

2 million-- think of what you can do with that?

Yeah, and don't get me started on church.

Who needs that?

There were a lot of things that he didn't

like about our lifestyle.

He didn't like us reading mainstream news channels,

because he felt like they were lying or distorting the truth.

He was definitely trying to change

perceptions on multiple levels.

He painted himself as quite a sort of liberal, I guess,

freedom fighter.

[inaudible] them poor sods in Syria, being bombed to shit.

I'm thinking of going out there, Breck,

and fighting with the Syrian rebels.

Wouldn't be the first time, though.

BRECK: What do you mean?

Well, I went out to Egypt a few years back,

fought with the Egyptian rebels.

He said he was going to go to Syria

as an aid worker, which I thought,

oh, that's quite noble.

You sure you want to do that, though, because it's supposed

to be really dangerous.

But then the morning he went out,

it's like, oh, goodbye, good luck, et cetera.

Then he came back on a couple of hours later saying,

oh no, the flight's been canceled.

There was a bomb in Baghdad.

It's like, oh, OK.

NARRATOR: Lewis's lies we're getting more far fetched.

He was beginning to lose credibility

with the older boys.

Everything he was saying wasn't really adding up.

He was a bit sort of fantastical for reality, quite honestly.

I didn't really believe that he was in America.

By that point, I was pretty sure he wasn't who

he was saying he was.

You know nothing.

So often I'd be a bit rude or a bit sarcastic,

and he didn't like that very much.

Hey, dude. You poked?

LEWIS: Yeah, they were annoying me.

Yeah, what happened to Liam?

LEWIS: Booted him.

That guy annoys me every day.

How come?

LEWIS: Spouting bollocks.

Was just chatting about school.

LEWIS: Yeah, that is the bollocks.

It's my server. I can do what I want.

Lewis, by the end of the day, was the owner of the server.

So if someone started annoying him quite a lot,

then he would just simply restrict

their access by banning them.

This isn't going to carry on.

I won't tell you again.

Shut the fuck up.

They began to sort of feel like he

was segregating everyone else from Breck by arguing,

pushing them away.

FRIEND: I mean, we had quite a few conversations with Breck.

And the conversation [inaudible] sort of just

involved, we're your real life friends.

Why are you sort of focusing more on someone

that you haven't actually met?

FRIEND: I disliked him, and I didn't

like the way he spoke to us.

And I told him Breck that getting in with Lewis

was a bad idea, because of the way that he treated him

and me and everyone.

But I didn't enforce it.

NARRATOR: Lewis now told another lie

to ensure the Breck would no longer listen to his friends.

LEWIS: Listen, Breck.

I've got some shit news.

What?

I had them [inaudible].

I tapped into another channel.

I heard them talking about you, Breck.

What are you talking about?

Your friends, they are--

well, they said they don't really like you.

Well, in fact, they said they hate you.

Who said what?

Look OK, um, it was Liam.

BRECK: Liam?

Yeah.

Well, and Matt.

Yeah, Liam and Matt.

Forget about them, Breck.

You don't need them anymore.

They're not going to help your future.

They're just going to stop you from doing well.

We've got that bond, Breck, and that's all that matters--

our friendship.

You don't need them anymore, Breck.

We tried to say it to, Breck, like, OK, this guy is

acting really weird.

This is scary.

You guys need to get out.

Lewis joined the server while we were having a chat,

began counteracting everything we were saying,

saying that we were bitchy about Breck to him,

and that we did hate him.

I ended up just saying, oh, you know what, screw it.

I don't have the effort or time to argue.

All he did was make our life really shit.

Around November time a bunch of us

older guys just decided that was enough.

So we decided to leave.

And that was the last time I spoke to Breck.

NARRATOR: Breck stayed in Lewis's gaming group.

Under Lewis's influence, he'd given up many of his hobbies,

including air cadets.

I did try and talk to Breck about why

he started not coming up, and he just shoved

me off with generic answers.

Oh, yeah, I can't.

I'm busy.

It was literally like someone had flipped a switch

and he just stops.

The smiling, happy Breck just wasn't there anymore.

He kept everything to himself and became much more isolated.

Looking back, that was probably a sign that something

wasn't quite right.

NARRATOR: Lewis had been grooming Breck

for eight months, and now there was only one person

standing in his way.

Breck would have his headphones on,

and I'd be standing there with Breck,

saying, Breck, you need to come and do this couple of things.

And he'd have Daynes literally in his ear saying,

you don't have to do that.

Don't listen to her.

You don't have to do that.

Don't listen to her.

I had to do something about it.

So we had this online chat, and it went back and forth.

I said, why are you trying to tell me how to raise my son?

And he would say, well, he doesn't want to go to church.

Why do you make him?

He doesn't believe in God.

It's a waste of time.

And I would say, well, that's what we do as a family.

And it's one hour a week.

I'm not asking, you know, for a full time commitment.

And he'd say--

Why are you forcing Breck to do chores when it's really

the triplets who make the mess?

Well, he shouldn't have to do any of these chores.

And then he always had a thing where he would say,

Breck's a good boy.

He doesn't smoke.

He doesn't do drugs.

You know, why can't you just let him be?

Breck gets good grades.

Well can't you let him be on the Wi-Fi when he wants?

I just, listen, he's my son.

I care about him.

All of my rules, everything that we do as a family

is because I love him.

And I wrote, and that's that.

End of story.

And that was it.

That was the absolute last time that we

had any conversations together.

Dude, are you there?

Hello?

LEWIS: Yeah.

Oh my god, so my mom has just gone absolutely mad.

She's really panicking.

And like, she's called my dad in--

Yeah, and she gets off on making out like I'm some sort

of creepy criminal, Breck.

She's threatening to take away like all my computer equipment,

and I actually think she's going to do

it this time because she's going absolutely mad.

She's manipulative you.

She's controlling you, Breck.

It's abuse.

She might your mum, but she's a total failure.

It was painfully obvious that Lewis

Daynes was encouraging Breck to act out against his mother.

I was horrified, and you know, I spoke to Breck about it.

He initially said, he's a good guy and has a great heart.

We challenged that. You're 14.

You really don't know.

I'm not some stranger, OK?

She's going to isolate you from you and your friends,

including me.

Is that what you want?

I told Breck, we don't know this guy, if he's good or bad.

He may be great.

He may be not.

We just don't know, and it's our job to protect you as parents.

They just want to meet you, and I

know it's like a really massive ask,

but is there any way that you could just come and meet them

so that they'll stop going on at me like this?

You know I can't do that, OK?

I've got too much work on at the moment,

too many responsibilities.

He would never do it.

So that was when we really got concerned.

I just had this image that he was

a 40-year-old fat pedophile sitting

behind the computer screen.

So I called the police.

I wanted to know if Daynes was known to the police.

I passed over Daynes full name.

Breck had told me he was 18.

Breck had told me he was from Essex, originally.

And I gave as much information as I could.

I was just told that the system would be checked.

In our wildest dreams, we thought maybe

because of these war games and the fact

he was talking about Syria, maybe he was radicalizing

these kids for terrorism.

We didn't know.

NARRATOR: Desperate to persuade Breck

to give up his friendship with Lewis,

Lorin contacted other parents.

BRECK: She just doesn't understand any of this.

She's panicking.

She's going to call this meeting with another point

and his parents to discuss the situation.

It's like totally ridiculous.

I don't know what I'm going to with that.

LEWIS: [inaudible] Breck, your mom shouldn't

be controlling what you do.

Breck, you know what you need to do?

You need to record that [inaudible] meeting.

Get it on tape.

BRECK: What do you mean record it?

Record it. You're an intelligent lad.

You'll figure it out.

BRECK: Yeah, I guess it would be kind of funny.

At least then you can see exactly what she's been

saying to me for this long.

Exactly, Breck.

We'll have a good laugh.

I mean, maybe we could even send it into the police.

That would sort her out.

Do you want to do that for me, Breck?

BRECK: Yeah.

Yeah, I will.

Good lad.

NARRATOR: Breck's secret recording of the meeting

was later found by police.

NARRATOR: Sensing his parents weren't going to back down,

Breck gave in.

NARRATOR: To make sure Breck did what he promised,

Lorin took away all his computer equipment.

Breck was very upset and quite annoyed at mum

that she was being so mean.

He thought she was just punishing him.

He didn't realize that she was trying to save him.

I listened out for his name.

We listen for Lewis, we listened for a new name,

maybe a new alias.

I listened for his voice, and the sad thing is is it

all went underground after I forbade him from speaking.

Christmas 2013 was a great Christmas.

I remember that the kids came to my house as well,

and we had all sorts of presents,

and Breck got a new hoodie that he wanted.

It was like we had Breck back because he wasn't

on the computer all the time, and it was

kind of good to see him there.

I was very happy.

NARRATOR: But after nine months of

intense psychological pressure, Lewis wasn't

going to give him up easily.

He secretly couriered him a phone.

And believing their son was over his friendship with Lewis,

Breck's parents gave him his computers back.

This is like the last picture we have of him.

It was a week before he died.

That was right before he went to Spain.

His Spanish trip, I think he really enjoyed it.

He met a girl that he liked, and to see Breck post a picture

of him and a girl together, I was a bit,

I thought, oh, that's nice.

So that's good for him, you know, to have

that for the first time.

I remember picking up Breck at the airport.

He looked tall.

He looked confident.

And he had a great time.

After we got back, he asked if he

could go to a friend's house.

I was so happy that he wanted to go and physically hang

out with one of his friends instead

of being on the computer that I said, OK.

And he gave me the name of him.

He said it was Tom, and he was dead.

And I said, do you want me to take you?

He says, no, no, I'll take care of it.

He texted me after a couple hours

and he said that he would like to spend the night.

They had pizza.

I'd be really proud of him.

He was going to be working on some computer stuff,

and they were trying to make a faster operating system

for something which, sounded--

OK, great.

That's fine.

And I didn't think anything of it.

I was happy that he was with one of his friends.

NARRATOR: The next morning, when Tom

logged onto TeamSpeak, it became clear

that something was very wrong.

It was the first day of half term and I was home alone,

and I got up fairly early because I couldn't

sleep the night before.

Didn't sleep so well.

I went on the computer for a bit, then Lewis came on.

He said that, you know, there had been a accident,

that Breck had come round to Lewis's house,

sort of depressed and suicidal, tried

to hurt himself with a knife--

911 DISPATCHER (ON THE PHONE): Essex Police Emergency.

--and that Breck was dead.

911 DISPATCHER (ON THE PHONE): What's happened?

My friend came to stay the night

with me yesterday, was feeling very down, feeling suicidal.

I was scared.

At first I though maybe it's a joke.

Tried to calm him down.

I hugged him and said that [inaudible] was bad for him.

911 DISPATCHER (ON THE PHONE): Right.

OK.

I have a pen knife adjacent to my bed.

I have a chest of drawers.

I've got aftershave and the TV and stuff on that.

I had a pen knife on their folded.

He picked it up, opened it--

NARRATOR: The news spread quickly

amongst Breck's gaming friends.

I sort of came on to the TeamSpeak

and was told that Breck had died.

He picked it up, opened it, and then lost control.

911 DISPATCHER (ON THE PHONE): In order to harm himself?

No, in order to harm me, he opened it,

and then lost control.

911 DISPATCHER (ON THE PHONE): Right.

OK.

I was just sort of shocked.

I just sort of sat there, sort of at my computer, just sort

of just in silence, really.

Can you not interrupt me with this part?

911 DISPATCHER (ON THE PHONE): OK, go on.

OK.

This is being recorded, anyway, isn't it?

911 DISPATCHER (ON THE PHONE): Yep.

I grabbed the knife and I stabbed him once

in the back of the neck, I believe

somewhere near the brain stem.

He turned around, tried to--

That was when it was like, holy shit, like, this

has actually happened.

Breck must have died feeling incredibly alone.

He was on his own with this guy who promises him everything,

ended up living in a pretty rough area of Essex

in like a small flat.

I don't remember exactly what happened,

but the fight ended with cutting his throat.

I believe I turned around and I slashed his throat.

Why?

Why would-- I don't understand why

he would do that, to build up the trust and friendship

and then to murder him.

I was just so shocked.

I just could believe it.

I couldn't believe it.

911 DISPATCHER (ON THE PHONE): You're telling me

he's definitely dead.

Yes, I'm telling you he's definitely dead.

911 DISPATCHER (ON THE PHONE): Can

you just bear with me a second?

Don't tell me anymore.

At first we just sort of thought,

maybe it was just an accident.

They may have had an argument, or like Lewis had said,

Breck tried to commit suicide and he tried to stop him.

Although, it did sound ridiculous.

You know, how can you accidentally

stab someone in the neck?

911 DISPATCHER (ON THE PHONE): Right, you've

left the weapon in the hallway. LEWIS: Yes.

911 DISPATCHER (ON THE PHONE): And has spend

how long sitting in the shower?

LEWIS: I--I don't know.

Look, are the police on their way?

I can hear something--

911 DISPATCHER (ON THE PHONE): They are.

They are.

LEWIS: I just going to go [inaudible]

thank you for your help.

911 DISPATCHER (ON THE PHONE): Right, just listen.

NARRATOR: The calm tone of the 999 call

suggested to Essex Police that Lewis

Daynes was no ordinary killer.

What we have is a 14-year-old boy being groomed to go and see

an 18-year-old man, and that 18-year-old man has

lied quite significantly to him about

the reason for that meeting.

That's what I needed to focus my investigation on.

Walking into the flat was very startling.

The hall way had a knife lying on the floor.

In the lounge there was a bag of clothing cut up.

Duct tape in the bins looked as though it had been used to bind

somebody, and it looked like it would be maybe hands

or feet, something like that.

In the lounge there was a tower unit,

and there was an external hard drive on the table.

In the bathroom there was a sink filled with water,

and there were a number of devices and hard drives

and some phones of that were covered in water.

In the bedroom there was one laptop on the bed

that was covered in blood.

Breck had a significant injury to his neck,

and at the end of the post-mortem,

the declaration of Breck's death was an incision

to the right side of his neck.

I have nightmares, and I just keep playing it over and over

in my mind when I go to bed.

What happened?

What happened?

You know, was he suffering long?

Was he, you know, was screaming?

Was he crying?

It kills me to think at what point things turned for Breck

and he realized, whoa, I really messed up,

and I'm in trouble here.

NARRATOR: Lewis maintained his story of self-defense,

but evidence was pointing to the contrary.

We identified that Lewis Daynes had purchased

duct tape and condoms.

He'd planned this.

It's definitely a good three weeks

beforehand that he's putting things

into place to make Breck.

NARRATOR: Despite Lewis Daynes attempt

to destroy all the computer evidence in water,

he left one vital clue, Breck's iPad, which police found

at the bottom of his backpack.

On it, proof that Lewis had continued to pursue Breck.

I feel completely worthless in respect of us being friends.

I've done nothing wrong.

I've been a good friend to you for almost a year now.

I've provided a safe--

NARRATOR: Police retrieved a barrage of e-mails from Lewis

to Breck dating back to Christmas.

What if she takes your PC away?

What happens then?

And you've responded with, I won't let that happen.

Well, Breck, it's happened.

Your mother has completely isolated you from your friends.

Lewis Daynes was constantly contacting Breck,

making sure that Breck's focus of attention

was on Lewis Daynes.

CLIFF PELL: I'm being treated like some kind

of criminal, a creep.

And he would be quite demanding in the emails, too.

Breck, why aren't you contacting me.

What are you doing?

You seem to have forgotten about me.

Breck.

Breck.

It was scary to think that a young man of that age

would be controlling in that way.

Daynes has clearly groomed him to not speak

to anybody else about this.

He's just not shared it with anybody.

We do know that Breck got a taxi in the morning,

that that taxi had been pre-booked

by Breck after conversation with Lewis Daynes two weeks

before the date.

[inaudible] if your father asks you where

you're going on Sunday, say you're going

to meet a friend who's 14.

And then just say, I've spent too many half

terms and holidays indoors.

I'm going to spend this one outside with friends.

Every day, I challenge myself as what could I have

done to protect Breck better?

I've been told by the police and by everybody else

that you did everything you could, and you Lewis Daynes

is just an evil person.

Still, deep down, I don't believe that.

I mean, that's my responsibility.

I had him and I was responsible for him.

I let him go to his death.

It will haunt us forever.

[inaudible] for coming.

OK, as Breck's parents, I think it's only right that you

should know what we've actually identified

for our investigation.

Just going to explain to you--

NARRATOR: Detectives discovered that Lewis Daynes had been

abandoned by his parents as a child

and had grown up in and out of foster care.

Living alone from the age of 16, he had developed

unhealthy online interests.

Lewis was, by his very nature, obsessive.

And he was obsessed with Syria.

There's a link that was sent to the young people

about a Syrian beheading, and it's one of the worst

that I've ever seen.

And there are links in reference to sexual pause,

to sexual behavior.

Within the last six months, between September and February,

Lewis Daynes was aiming to meet at least one of the people

within community, and Breck just happened

to be the first person he met.

NARRATOR: Police discovered Lewis Daynes had bought service

space in Germany, and had access to an online community

of over 400 gamers.

He practically created the sort of,

I guess you'd call an empire, where he could

just drag in anybody he wants.

He's got service for games, like Minecraft,

which means young kids are going to want to come on his server.

He can get any teenage guy he wants because he has servers

for games like Team Fortress 2.

And he had such endurance that he talked to them for 2,

3 years until he made his move.

Doesn't look like a murderer.

Just looking on the Essex Police page, and someone's

commented on the post, oh my god, I went to school with him.

He was always the kid that was bullied.

Guess he just snapped.

I just feel like this whole situation could have been

averted if we didn't know Lewis, and if we didn't meet him

at all, none of this would have happened

and Breck would have been alive.

NARRATOR: After a 10 month investigation,

police finally have the answer to why 14-year-old Breck had

secretly gone to Lewis's flat.

LEWIS: Breck, Breck, get on my chat.

I want to speak. BRECK: What?

NARRATOR: It was Lewis's greatest deception,

and on that would cost Breck his life.

BRECK: Yo, what's up?

LEWIS: I'm running out of time, Breck.

BRECK: What are you talking about?

Look, Breck, I didn't want to let on, but I'm--

I'm ill.

BRECK: You're-- you're ill?

Yeah.

What, like flu or something?

LEWIS: I don't joke, Breck.

I'm serious.

I'm unable to keep control of the company.

It's just too much for me.

I've tried, but it's taking too much toll on my health.

And I've decided I want to hand it over to you.

What?

Are you joking?

LEWIS: No, and this is why I need you to step up.

Because I need you to take over.

What?

Mate, what are you talking about?

The company, Breck.

I'm serious.

I wouldn't lie to you, Breck.

I need you to take control of the company.

Grab it with both hands.

You need to step up, Breck, for me.

You're not going to let me down, are you?

When you're back from holiday--

Yeah.

LEWIS: --you'll come over to my place.

Yeah.

LEWIS: We'll talk through the details.

I'll hand over the company to you.

You'll do that for me, won't you?

Uh-- and you'll be there with me?

Of course.

I need you to bring with you your tablets,

your phone, your drives, everything,

absolutely everything.

And then I will take you through the business, every step.

And I will be with you every step of the way

until you get the hang of you need to do.

And from there on in, I'll explain my health situation.

OK.

Uh, all right then.

Can't wait.

Can't wait to meet you, too.

Yes.

On the morning of a trial, I was due to go as a witness

into court.

And then just before we're about to leave, we got a phone call

saying he's pleaded guilty, which was hard to hear,

because still some part of me wanted it to be, you know,

this was an accident. It's just a tragic accident.

It's not, you know, a murder.

NARRATOR: Lewis Daynes was convicted of murder

with sexual and sadistic intent, and was

sentenced to life imprisonment.

The biggest trend at the moment, the biggest thing

that we're hearing about is grooming online,

and this is so hard to try and police,

because you don't physically know who that person is.

You just got to notice the signals.

There were clear signals that Lewis was letting out that were

dangerous, and you just need to make sure

that you're picking up on them.

Because that's what's going to keep you safe.

LORIN: I think there's so much more we all

need to learn about grooming.

I think we just need to keep reminding teens

and even younger children not to trust people

that we don't online.

I'd like to welcome Lorin [inaudible] for talking to us

about internet safety, a topic which

we've been covering and is highly debated in schools.

You know, Breck felt like the friend

that he met online was a true friend,

and because he met them through other people

that he knew, friends of friends, it felt safe.

And unfortunately, people aren't always

who they say they are online.

When I made that phone call to the police,

I wanted to know if Daynes was known to the police.

Well, Daynes was known to the police

for prior sexual activity, allegations

against a 15-year-old boy.

In the system-- this was in the system.

In my, you know, pretend dreams, the police would come

to the door, speak to Breck, and say,

actually, your mom was right.

And Breck would have finally believed me.

And in my mind, that is what should

have happened in my life, and my son would be here.

I would still be a productive human being,

instead of what I am now, which is a shell of a person.

I'm only alive for the triplets, and I'm not alive for me.

I found this one in an old folder,

and it's the acceptance letter for when Breck

went to [inaudible] school.

NARRATOR: Breck's 13-year-old siblings

have to learn to live with the hole left in their lives.

Do you want to do some more trimming?

Yeah.

Every day is different because Breck's not here.

He's not in his bedroom.

He's not on his computer.

Sometimes I still lay one too many places

at the dinner table, and that really makes me sad.

It's hard at school.

I kind of don't like it that everyone

knows about it, that I'm the sister

of the boy who was murdered.

It's just such an ugly word--

murdered.

Sometimes I just want to cry and sit

by Breck's tree at school and cry

instead of having to go to lessons.

NARRATOR: Today would've been Breck's 16th birthday.

In his memory, Lorin has decided to continue visiting

schools to educate teenagers.

I want something good to come out of Breck's murder.

It's a known fact that there are people

out there, pedophiles grooming teenagers more than we know.

But groomers are chameleons, and they'll

be who ever they think they need to be

to convince that child to do something

they wouldn't normally do.

Happy birthday, Breck, you're 16 today.

This comes with love to wish you a wonderful day, because you're

such a special son.

We love you, [inaudible].

OK, guys, do you want to let the balloons off?

Do you miss Brecky?

All right, on the count of three.

One, two, three, happy birthday, Breck.

You know what?

I feel it's my job to get the word out, if the work that I do

can save another life.

See Breck, we celebrate your birthday

whether you're here or not.

We miss you, Breck, we love you.

One, two, three.